By Jaci Hernandez
Staff Writer
“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” debuted in theaters on Oct. 7 and appeared on Netflix on Feb. 4.
It is a movie about a family that moves to New York just to find a crocodile living in their attic. This movie is based on the children’s books about Lyle the crocodile.
Lyle is played by Shawn Mendes, who lends his singing voice throughout the movie.
This is Mendes’ first major role in a film and, in my opinion, he doesn’t disappoint. Mendes became Lyle and gave him a voice. I couldn’t imagine Lyle being anyone else.
By being able to sing, Lyle shows that he is different from other crocodiles. It is this difference that makes him known to a character named Hector P. Valenti.
Hector takes in Lyle as a kid and raises him for a while, until Hector realizes that Lyle has stage fright.
This turn of events changes things in the course of the story, because once Hector realizes this, he leaves Lyle to go make money elsewhere.
To me, this makes the movie go from a children’s film, to a production with some emotional depth to it.
After Hector leaves, Lyle has learn how to survive on his own. While doing so, a new family moves into the space Lyle is occupying.
The family has a son named Josh. Josh is new to the city just wants to make friends. What he didn’t expect, though, was meeting Lyle instead.
This leads to a journey of growth for each member of the family and for Hector, who comes back later in the movie.
I personally enjoyed the character of Lyle; seeing his and the family’s journey was great to watch.
For a movie that’s supposed to be for little kids, it made me go through quite the emotional journey. I even connected to the smaller things that Lyle and Josh went through.
I think part of the reason this movie was good was because of how well the actors did with their characters, specifically Winslow Fegley, who plays Josh, and Constance Wu, who plays Josh’s mom, Mrs. Primm.
Some of my favorite scenes in the movie are the scenes of Lyle with both Mrs. Primm and Josh. These scenes give off an accepting, freeing and familial dynamic that makes me like the movie just a bit more.
The creators of this movie make it so that kids and adults of any age can enjoy it. It’s the perfect family movie or just the film to watch if you want to listen to some good singing.
It’s also great to watch if you’re in need of something wholesome. I have wanted to watch this movie for months, and I finally had the chance once it came out on Netflix.
Ever since it hit the streaming platform, it has been in the top ten list for the movies category. As of this publication, it’s still ranked number four.
So, if you want to watch a cute movie about a cool crocodile, check out “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” while it’s still on Netflix.
Rating: 4 / 5